Avocados From Mexico has partnered with Walmart again, with more than 4,000 U.S. stores directing shoppers to avocado content through an online Chatbot.
Shoppers were provided with in-the-moment tips that included how to choose, store and cook with the avocados, according to a news release from Avocados From Mexico.
“Cutting and peeling avocados was also consistently conveyed as a secondary frustration connected with usage,” Stephanie Bazan, vice president of market development for Avocados From Mexico, said in the release. “Functional interaction and emotional connection are heavily aligned, creating tension between behavior and mindset that can stagnate buyers so having access to the Chatbot allowed customers and retail workers to gain insightful knowledge.”
A new playbook, research
The group has a new tool for importers and retailers, the Avocados From Mexico Education Playbook, packed with information from more than a year of in-depth research, analysis and testing, according to the release.
It focuses on how to combat the biggest barriers to purchases, after price and selection at the store. Key concerns to consumers are ripening and preserving the fruit, and AFM tested various techniques to ripen and preserve the fruit.
The tests to speed up/slow down ripening, and how to preserve half an avocado, were conducted at the Avocados From Mexico Culinary Center in Irving, Texas, where the group is based.
Based on the research, AFM created a communication platform, “Ready When You’re Ready,” designed to give consumers confidence avocados are ready when they want them to be.
“In our conversations with consumers, we learned how much they value education,” Alvaro Luque, president of Avocados From Mexico, said in the release. “Emotions are especially high throughout the avocado buying experience and perception of wasted fruit can be frustrating for them, lessening the value of their purchase, while causing hesitation of future purchases.”
Glad partnership
AFM and food wrap company Glad promoted a “meaningful solution” to preserve avocados, according to the release, using Glad Press’n Seal on cut fruit.
“Consumers feel anxious about their remaining avocado half not lasting,” Dianne Le, associate director of shopper marketing, said in the release. “The incredible opportunity to partner with Glad has allowed AFM a strong vehicle to educate consumers on how to keep the un-used portion fresh to avoid waste.”
The group cross-promoted Press’n Seal and avocados with 1.49 million digital coupons, 2,775 in-store samplings, signs in stores and through social media, and an influencer campaign this spring. Avocados last three times longer with Press’n Seal, according to the release.
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